Connection apparatus may be used in a variety of applications and industries. In one application, connection apparatus may be used to interconnect truss sections. Truss sections are used in a variety of industries, including the entertainment industry, where they are used for the construction of truss structures for mounting lighting, cameras, displays, and speaker systems. Truss structures are commonly used in entertainment (and in particular concert) or trade show venues for this purpose. Each time they are used, truss structures are assembled from individual truss sections. Once a concert, festival, or trade show has concluded the truss structures are disassembled and the truss sections are transported to other venues or to storage facilities.
Although some means are needed to secure lighting, sound, camera, and display equipment for concerts, not all entertainment venues are equipped with such means. Accordingly, in some cases truss sections are transported to the venue and a truss structure is assembled on site. Because renting of a venue is costly, it is desirable for truss structures to be assembled and disassembled quickly to minimize rental costs. Assembling such a truss structure can be large and complex job.
Truss structures are typically constructed by placing truss sections adjacent to one another and joining them together. In order to form a single unitary whole, each truss section comes equipped with a mechanism by which it may be connected to other truss assemblies. The connecting mechanism comprises a set of connection openings that may be aligned as between separate truss assemblies and through which connection hardware, such as pins or threaded bolts, may be inserted to create firm connection points.
Truss sections are normally shipped out to venues from a central storage facility or possibly from a number of disparate storage facilities. Connection hardware must be present at the venue in order for the truss sections to be assembled.
The connection hardware and fasteners are quite small as compared to the truss sections and as a result may be stored separately from the truss sections. Alternatively, the disassembler may choose to reattach the connection hardware to the truss for storage by reinserting the connection hardware into the connection opening of a truss section after disassembly. Where a truss structure has many connections, reinserting the connection hardware can significantly increase disassembly time.
When reinserting the connection hardware, the disassembler may decide to attach the connection hardware to either one of the two truss sections. This may lead to an inconsistency in how the connection hardware is stored with respect to the truss sections. This inconsistency is exacerbated by the fact that sometimes truss sections will be connected to other sections at both ends or other locations and sometimes there will only be a connection at one end.
The inconsistency in the storage of the connection hardware creates a possible problem wherein there is a chance or likelihood that truss sections being delivered to a venue may not arrive with the appropriate connection hardware. The lack of appropriate connection hardware may not be discovered until the truss sections arrive at the venue, leading to a delay and increase in the time required to assemble the truss structure.